Film pack structure



Feb. 16, 1937. J. L. BURKE FILM PACK STRUCTURE Filed April 1, 1932 rN v ENTO R hme' wr'e ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEy Claims.,

My present invention relates to the art of packaging, and more particularly to packets of small relatively flat articles.

An object of the invention is to provide a packet of the foregoing type which can be readily assembled, enclosed or fabricated by automatic machinery, which is conventional in apperance, which adequately protects the contents, and which admits of ease and speed of removal of the contents when desired without the possibility of injury to the protected article in the process of removal thereof.

Another object is to provide a packet of the above type enclosing a multiplicity of flat articles and which admits of selective removal, as desired,

of individual articles therefrom while preserving the integrity of the package enclosing the remaining articles, and maintains Vthe latter adequately protected despite the removal of their companions therefrom.

Ay specific application of the invention relates to photographic film packs, more particularly to packs of miniature dental X-ray films, and in that particular application it is an object of the invention to protect the enclosed film, not only from dirt but primarily from light or other film-destructive rays or emanations, and to admit of removal of the lm from the pack without the likelihood of wetting the same with saliva from the patients mouth, and yet without in any way impairing the photographic `properties of the lm by its association with the elements, by which the convenience above set forth is accomplished.

In the accompanying drawing, in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Figure l is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the film pack;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the removal of the film;

Fig. 3 is a view in longitudinal section with the thickness greatly exaggerated, on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, of a modied form;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the combined lm removal and protective arrangement of the embodiment of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of the combined lm and p-ull tab in another modification.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawing, there is shown particularly a miniature X-ray dental film pack, including the conventional (Cl. Z50-34) dental lm Il interposed between two sheets of black opaque substance I2, behind which is a sheet of lead foil or other X-ray intercepting substance I3.

According to the present inventionV a flexible strip or ribbon, preferably a strip I4 of paper, woven fabric or cellulose substance, is folded at its middle about one edge of the photographic film and protrudes at its end I5 beyond the oppo site edge of the photographic film. The entire pack, including the Iilm Il with its iiexible strip I4 thereabout, the opaque sheets I2, and the X-ray intercepting sheet I3, is enclosed in the conventional wrapper W in which such lms are ordinarily packaged, which wrapper is of light impervious fabric. The wrapper back may comprise a blank It, the edges I1 of which are folded over the various edges of the contents and as shown in Fig. 3 over the protruding ends of the pull strip I4, the latter being reversely bent inward as at t8, and its extremities bent upward to protrude beyond the wrapper. The face of the wrapper is preferably in the form of a label I9 adhesively secured to the inturned edges I'I of the wrapper back. Thus, there is produced a completely enclosed pack in which the film is maintained in light-excluding relation and from which the extremities of the pull tab protrude.

After the lm package has been exposed Within the mouth of the patient, the lm is readily removed by simply holding the pack and pulling on the exposed tab I5. By this operation the pack is automatically opened by the pushing action of the advanced edge of the relatively stiff film I I and the latter emerges from the pack free of all of the contents, and the pull strip or ribbon which is not bonded to the lm is thrown away.

In the embodiment of Figs. 5 and 6, the auxiliary strip i4 is omitted and the opaque cover sheets of the film are made in a unitary sheet 20 with a folding edge 2 I, and with unitary pull tabs 22 beyond the advance or forward edge thereof. In other respects the package is identical with that previously described. Corresponding parts have the reference numerals with exponent a of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4.

In Fig. 7, the film I Ib has directly bonded thereto, preferably adhesively, a strip 25 extending preferably the length thereof and having integral therewith a pull tab 26 protruding therebeyond. The strip and the pull tab both are preferably made of transparent material such as Cellophane or glassine. Except for this difference the pack enclosing this combined lm and pull tab is identical with that of Figs. 1 to 4.

The embodiment of Fig. 7 has the advantage that the pull tab 26 serves not only the function of the other embodiments, that is of servingV to push the package open and to remove the film therefrom, but has the additional advantage of serving as a handle clip more or less permanently associated with the film, so that the latter can be conveniently held thereby to the light for viewing the film, or hung thereby to dry. The tab and its securing extension is made transparent so that in holding the film to the light the areas of transparency will not be obstructed thereby.

In each of the embodiments, it will thus be seen that the tractive means, which includes the pull tab construction, dispenses with the need for separate operation to remove the film from the open pack, but the opening of the pack and the withdrawal of the film together with the tractive means occurs as the result of a single pulling operation in which direct Contact of the fingers with the film and the danger of scratching the emulsion are avoided. While the invention has been described in a number of particular embodiments for miniature dental X-ray film packages, for multiple packaging, it will of course, be understood that these particular applications, while highly useful, are merely illustrative of the broader uses of the invention, which is useful in a wide variety of fields including, among others, packs of various types of confections, safety razor packs, postage stamp packs, packs for various types of medicaments, and merchandise of various forms and more especially merchandise of the character put up in the form of relatively flat, more or less thin articles of dimensions sufficiently small to be carried in the pockets or handbags.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described a packet in which the several features of this invention are embodied, and which in use attains the various objects of the invention and. is well suited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A dental film pack comprising a film, a transparent strip bonded to said lm along one face .thereof and having a tab unitary therewith and protruding beyond said lm, said tab having an inturned basal portion and a wrapper enclosing said film and said strip in light tight relation, said Wrapper including a part folded over the inturned base of said pull tab and over which the rest of said pull tab is folded outwardly to extend therebeyond, said wrapper including means adhesively connected to said part and retaining the base of said pull tab in position.

2. A dental iilm pack comprising a film, apull strip co-related therewith and having an end protruding from one edge thereof, a light-tight wrapper about said film and pull strip, said wrapper including an element having a closure flap eX- tending over said pull strip and over the edge of which flap the end of said pull strip protrudes beyond the pack, and a label adhesively secured to said element and covering the overlapping portions of said flap and said pull strip.

3. A dental lm pack comprising a light-tight wrapper including an element having an integral closure flap at one end, a film having a pull strip extending longitudinally thereof and of Width less than that of said film, said closure iiap being folded over the protruding part of said pull strip, the extremity of said pall strip being folded over said flap and protruding from said pack, and a label adhesively secured to said element, said label overlapping said flap and the superposed portion of said pull strip, the upper end of said label being adhesively attached to said flap laterally of said pull strip.

4. A photographic film pack consisting of a wrapper, a film and eXible withdrawal means enclosed by said wrapper and removable therefrom in a single operation, said withdrawal means being in tractive relation to said lm, extending lengthwise thereof and including a pull tab protruding beyond the forward edge of said film, said wrapper including a part folded over the base of the tab, and means secured to said part and holding the base of said tab in place, with the end of said tab protruding from said wrapper.

5. A photographic film pack consisting of a wrapper, a film, flexible means folded around the rear edge of said lm and presenting pull tab ends protruding beyond the forward edge thereo-f, said wrapper including a part folded over the bases of said pull tab ends, and means secured to said part and holding said bases in place, with the extremities of said ends protruding from said wrapper.

JAMES L. BURKE. 

